PUPILS and staff have been commended for creating an "exceptionally friendly and inclusive nursery" following an Ofsted inspection.

Letterbox Day Nursery, in Walton High Street, has been given an 'outstanding' rating following its inspection in April.

The nursery, which cares for children aged between 18 months and five years, has improved on its previous 'good' rating in 2017.

The report said: “The provider, manager and staff have an exceedingly strong and caring ethos that puts children at the centre of everything they do.

“They are highly attentive to children's individual needs and get to know children, and their families, very well.

“Children show that they feel extremely happy, settled and secure in the nursery.”

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The nursery said that since its 'good' rating in 2017, it has strived to achieve the 'outstanding' judgement with a heavy focus on its resources and environmental work.

Staff have worked on reducing plastic and trying to use natural and open-ended resources where possible.

Letterbox Day Nursery has also stripped back the amount of resources on offer at a time and have given pupils choices in new resources purchased.

The team is made up of eight nursery practitioners who undergo regular training to keep their practices relevant and in line with any changes in legislation.

Laura Hazelton, nursery manager, said: “I have been the manager for ten years now at Letterbox and it has always been my ultimate goal to become an outstanding setting.

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“I highly value my team of practitioners as they all put the children first and build safe and secure relationships which enable pupils to learn through their teaching.

“I am so proud of us all.”

The inspection report also praises the nursery for its pupils ‘exceptional’ behaviour and the staff’s role in keeping a strong relationship with parents to ensure children’s development continues at home.

Michelle Fowler, room leader, added: “The outstanding rating reflects our outstanding team and how well we all work together.

“The inspector couldn’t comment enough on how happy and content all the children seemed and at the end of the day that’s what we wanted to showcase.”